newbobooks Chapter 420 Jingzhou generals surrender to Cao Cao's camp! Liu Bei is blocked in Jiangxia?
Chapter 420 Jingzhou generals surrender to Cao Cao's camp! Liu Bei is blocked in Jiangxia?
"Wenping, this general is Wei Yan."
"You scoundrel, do you dare to fight me one-on-one and settle the score?"
"If you win, I will decide today to release all your soldiers."
"If you lose, then you will be at my disposal!"
Wen Ping immediately agreed:
"Why don't you dare?"
"But can you, a general in Cao Cao's camp, truly uphold your integrity?"
Wei Yan's face suddenly darkened.
What words! What words!
Are the generals of Cao Cao's camp so untrustworthy when they go out on missions?
What Wei Yan didn't know was that it was more than just a lack of credibility!
The whole world has been buzzing with the rumor that Cao Cao's generals are all uncivilized!
"Would I, this general, deceive you?"
"Come here immediately and fight this general!"
Seeing that Wei Yan was serious, Wen Ping immediately stepped forward and engaged Wei Yan in battle.
However, Wen Ping's martial arts skills were significantly inferior to Wei Yan's.
After more than ten rounds, Wen Ping was panting heavily and drenched in sweat, completely at a disadvantage.
In the fourteenth round, Wei Yan had had enough and knocked the weapon out of Wen Ping's hand with a single blow!
"Surrender. Liu Biao is dead, and you have already repaid your debt of gratitude."
Wenping burst into tears, clutching his head.
He was an honest and kind man, and a military general who was promoted by Liu Biao.
But now that Liu Biao and Liu Qi are both dead, Wen Ping really doesn't know what to do.
What? Liu Bei?
What is that?
Do you really think that without Liu Qi, Liu Bei could have won over so many civil and military officials in Jingzhou?
To put it simply, Liu Bei definitely possessed personal charisma, and it was quite high.
For example, Fu Tong was originally Cai Mao's man, but he was tricked away by Liu Bei in this wave.
However, the most crucial factor in the succession of many civil and military officials in Jingzhou to join Liu Bei's ranks before and after the Battle of Red Cliffs was Liu Qi!
Until Liu Qi's death, Liu Bei always used Liu Qi's name.
The same applies to the attack on the four prefectures of Jingnan.
After Liu Biao's death, Jingzhou was, to be precise, divided into two groups of people.
One group was willing to defect to Cao Cao, led by Cai Mao, Kuai Yue, and Zhang Yun.
Another group consisted of people who had received favors from Liu Biao and intended to rebel against Cao Cao. Seeing that Liu Qi was still alive, these people naturally chose to follow him.
After Liu Qi died, he had no children and left no heirs.
These former civil and military officials of Jingzhou naturally became Liu Bei's subordinates.
After all, they didn't have any better options.
We can't very well go and seek refuge with Sun Quan, can we?
But it's different now.
Liu Biao and Liu Qi are both dead!
Liu Bei was an outsider; he had no legitimate reason or status.
The number of people who could be fooled suddenly decreased significantly.
Besides Wenpin.
Wang Wei, Chang Diao, and several other Jingzhou generals stationed in Xiangyang eventually chose to surrender to Cao Cao's camp.
……
Jiangxia
Near Xiakou City on the border
Liu Bei took the spirit of fleeing to the extreme, using a rapid march mode that almost no one else could do to reach Xiakou.
Looking at the Xiakou city gate that was so close at hand, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhuge Liang quickly stepped forward, intending to enter the city.
"Hey, hey, stop! Stop!"
"Who are you? You're not spies under Sun Quan, are you?"
The soldiers guarding the city immediately stopped Liu Bei and his three companions.
Zhang Fei shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Open your dog eyes and take a good look!"
"This is my elder brother Liu Bei, a cousin of your Liu Jingzhou!"
"Liu Bei? So it was you!"
The soldiers guarding the city wall were suddenly shocked.
A hint of pride appeared on Liu Bei's face.
Although we've suffered repeated defeats, our reputation still holds some value.
Unexpectedly, after waiting for nearly two and a half minutes, the guards on the city wall, apart from being somewhat surprised, still did not make any move.
Zhang Fei roared urgently:
What are you doing?
"You know my elder brother's reputation, why aren't you opening the door for him?"
One of the guards, who appeared to be the captain, said:
"Sorry! Even if your elder brother is Liu Bei, or even if Liu Jingzhou himself came here, we would not allow you to enter Xiakou without General Huang's permission!"
Zhang Fei was so angry that he started cursing.
The soldiers guarding the city wall remained unmoved.
In Jiangxia, Huang Zu's words carried far more weight than Liu Biao's.
"Kongming, what should we do?"
Zhuge Liang's eyes darted around, and he said to Liu Bei:
"My lord, although the eldest son did not come here with us."
“But we can lie and say that the eldest son will arrive soon, and have the guard report this to Huang Zu.”
"The garrison may be ignorant, but surely Huang Zu can be ignorant as well?"
Liu Bei's eyes suddenly lit up.
That's a good idea.
Subsequently, the defending troops indeed performed as Zhuge Liang had predicted.
Although the city gates were not opened for Liu Bei and his three companions, someone was immediately sent to urgently report the news to Huang Zu, who was in the main city of Jiangxia.
after one day
Huang Zu sent his son Huang She from Jiangxia city to Xiakou.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you letting General Liu into the city right now?"
Two years ago, Huang She represented Huang Zu at the year-end banquet hosted by Liu Biao.
He had spoken with Liu Bei at the banquet, so he naturally knew Liu Bei.
Moreover, once you've seen Liu Bei's unusual appearance, you're unlikely to forget it.
"Thank you, General Huang, for your righteous help."
"How is your father?"
Huang She shook his head:
"My father was worried about Sun Quan of Jiangdong all day long."
"Nothing else matters. After all, it is my duty in Jiangxia to protect Jingzhou from Jiangdong."
"As for General Liu, what brings you here today...?"
Just as Liu Bei was about to speak, Zhuge Liang interrupted him.
"General Huang, the governor has sent a secret order to Prefect Huang, informing him that his eldest son will soon arrive in Jiangxia."
"General Huang should have received this message, right?"
Huang She understood that the Prefect Huang mentioned in Zhuge Liang's two sentences referred to his father, Huang Zu.
He nodded and said:
"After Father opened the letter, he also sent a reply to Xiangyang. Didn't the governor and the eldest son receive it?"
Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang looked at each other in bewilderment.
I reckon the timings overlapped.
Perhaps the letter has already reached Xiangyang.
However, the two of them fled Xiangyang overnight.
"It's alright, it's alright. Please come with me to Jiangxia first."
"We will discuss this further after the eldest son arrives."
Upon hearing this, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang became even more apprehensive.
This is ridiculous... Liu Qi isn't even coming to Jiangxia!
If Huang Zu had known that Liu Qi was not coming at all, would he have tolerated Liu Bei continuing to stay in Jiangxia?
As for Zhuge Liang's claim that he had a way to persuade Huang Zu to resolutely resist Cao Cao, it was based on Liu Qi's personal visit to Jiangxia!
Without Liu Qi, there was no way he could persuade Huang Zu.
Huang Zu wasn't stupid.
Their status is even higher than yours, Liu Bei, so why should they listen to your orders?
……